Having become a very popular concept, the open debates series devoted to Polish/Jewish relations that we began in 2012 in collaboration with Chlodna 25 café are continuing this year in PanstwoMiasto cafe in Warsaw.

The first debate this year, which took place in January, involved Lukasz Baksik, the photographer and author of the photo project “Matzevot for Everyday Use” and Agnieszka Nieradko, representative of the Rabbinical Commission on Cemeteries. Our guests talked about the fate of Jewish cemeteries and graves in the war and post-war Poland.

In February, those gathered discussed the realities of individuals working at commemorating the local Jewish heritage in their regions. After watching Władysław Pasikowski’s movie “Pokłosie” the audience was invited to take part in a debate with Bogdan Białek, President of the Jan Karski Association in Kielce, Witold Dabrowski, deputy director of the Grodzka Gate – NN Theatre in Lublin and Grzegorz Kaminski, a teacher from Toszek.

In April, we tried to “read Warsaw” from Warsaw Ghetto maps together with the Polish Center for Holocaust Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The debate was organized in conjunction with the release of the Center’s renewed and supplemented publication “The Warsaw Ghetto: Guide to the Non-Existent City,” and was attended by Beata Chomątowska, a journalist and founder of the Association for Social and Cultural Initiatives ‘Station Muranow’, Pawel E. Weszpiński, cartographer and historian of cartography and Jakub Petelewicz from the Polish Center for Holocaust Research.

In June, debate participants discussed the meaning of Christian-Jewish dialogue with Father Wojciech Lemański, parish priest in the small town of Jasienica and member of the Polish Council of Christians and Jews.

This fall, Forum’s President Andrzej Folwarczny visited the United States twice. During his stay, he devoted three weeks to foster Polish-Jewish relations, promote the work of the Forum and recent achievements of the School of Dialogue program. Forum’s work was presented to representatives of the International Women Associates in Chicago and, thanks to Jewish Records Indexing – Poland, to a group of genealogists in New York. During individual meetings in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Washington, Forum’s future plans were discussed with representatives of local groups of Friends of the Forum. Forum’s President spoke also at the gatherings organized by Forum’s friends, Suzi and David Schuller in Boston. During his stay in New York, Andrzej was invited as well to participate in an event by the Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies honoring Forum friend Sigmund A. Rolat with the Jan Karski Award for Speaking Out.

This past Sunday the Forum concluded another visit of Jewish leaders from United States and Australia to Poland. During an intense weekly program participants of our trip met with representatives of academia, politics, culture and Polish Jewish community. They discussed topics of Polish-Jewish relations and today’s Poland during meetings with Prof. Edmund Wnuk-Lipinski, Honorary Rector of Collegium Civitas, Zbigniew Nosowski, Editor-in-chief of the “Więź” monthly, Nadav Eshcar, Deputy Chief of Mission of Israeli Embassy and other field specialists. The program included also sightseeing of Warsaw and Krakow as well as a study visit to the former concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz – Birkenau.

One of the most memorable experiences was the visit to a School of Dialogue in Sandomierz. During their meeting with local high school students our guests discussed their participation in School of Dialogue workshops and were guided by them around the town’s Jewish sites.

This year visit of Polish delegation to the States in frame of the Forum’s annual exchange program with American Jewish Committee concluded on Sunday. Invited leaders visited Washington, New York and Chicago. The program included meetings with representatives of most important Jewish organizations and institutions such as the American Jewish Committee, the American Jewish World Service, YIVO Institute for Jewish Research and U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Meetings with Executive Director of AJC David Harris and Holocaust survivor from Sokolow Podlaski Aaron Elster were considered trip highlights by the participants.

We are pleased to inform you that our 2012 Annual Report is available online.

We hope that you will enjoy reading about our last year’s achievements and developments. We are grateful for all the trust and support we have received from many individuals and institutions in the past year. We encourage you to read the report and share it with anybody interested in enhancing Polish-Jewish dialogue.

We are grateful to Joanne Zamore and Zamore Design for designing the report.

In November, we celebrated Forum for Dialogue’s 15th Anniversary with our friends, co-workers and partners. The anniversary gala was opened by speeches of Forum’s President Andrzej Folwarczny and Advisor to the President of Poland and Chairman of Forum’s Council Henryk Wujec. After a short presentation of our achievements, His Excellency Zvi Rav-Ner, the Ambassador of Israel to Poland proposed a toast in honor of the Forum and our activities. One of the event’s highlights was a special concert by Alte Zachen.

We would like to once again thank all our co-workers and friends who have contributed to the success and growth of our organization in the past years.

On the turn of September and October Forum For Dialogue Among Nations hosted a delegation of Jewish community leaders from the United States and Great Britain. During a week-long visit our quests participated in an intense weekly program devoted to Polish-Jewish relations. They met with representatives of academia and politics and Polish Jewish community. During the program they had an opportunity to sightsee Warsaw, Krakow and take part in a study visit to the former concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz – Birkenau. Trip participants also visited a School of Dialogue in Sienno. During their meeting with graduates of Forum’s educational program they were guided by them around Jewish sites in their town.

The project is co-financed by the Department of Public and Cultural Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland.

The Forum had the honor of hosting the new U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, Ira Forman, during his brief visit to Poland in September. Special Envoy Forman and other members of his State Department delegation spent an hour and a-half discussing the work of the Forum and recent achievements of the School of Dialogue program.

Yesterday, the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Poland Mr. Stephen Mull was taken on a tour of local Jewish sites by students from Salesian School Complex in Sokołów Podlaski. Graduates of our spring School of Dialogue program prepared a multimedia presentation about School of Dialogue workshops in their town, a unique tour for the Ambassador and concluded the meeting with a festive treat at school. The Ambassador and his staff were impressed by the students’ commitment to commemorate the Jewish community of Sokołów.

Leah Yaël Flam has just ended a two-month internship at the Forum for Dialogue Among Nations as part of the AJC Goldman Fellowship Program.

Leah Yaël Flam holds a BA in International Relations from the University of Exeter in England, and she is currently completing her studies at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin in the field of public policy.

While in Poland, Leah has been an invaluable support to the Forum’s office, she assisted with the ‘Leaders of Dialogue’ conference, the Facing History and Ourselves teachers study visit to Poland, as well as the visit of the American Jewish Committee delegation to our country.She also worked on reports on the Forum’s educational work and promotional material.

Thank you for your cooperation and we wish you great success in the future!